Moscow, August 9, Interfax - Russias Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar believes the Earth will soon see the coming a Messiah to reward everyone according to his deserts.

We know that he (Messiah - IF) is very near at hand, but he needs not only to be born but also to come. The Messiah may well have been born already, but unless he is ordered by God he cannot reveal himself with Gods help and change the world for the better, the rabbi said in an interview published by the Gazeta daily on Tuesday.

Lazar explained this assumptions about the imminent coming of a Messiah by the fact that the world today is in a state described by our sages as hevley mashiah, that is, labour that precedes the coming of a Messiah.

It is a time, he explained, when many good things are created in the world and the progress of science and technology has made it possible to solve many human problems, to overcome diseases, famine, etc., on one hand. On the other hand, it is for the first time since God created human beings that humans have taken hold of such means of destruction that the whole of our race and even the globe itself can be destroyed instantly.

We are living on the verge of history; it can be felt everywhere, Rabbi Lazar is convinced. Recalling the comparison made by philosopher Maimonides who likened the world to scales, Lazar assumed that perhaps God is waiting for only one deed to be put on the good scale to order the Messiah to reveal himself.

Speaking about it, Russias chief rabbi called upon everyone to add this good deed as ones contribution may prove decisive.

For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed--the one who brings destruction. He will exalt himself and defy every god there is and tear down every object of adoration and worship. He will position himself in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God. Don't you remember that I told you this when I was with you? 6And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes.

For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. This evil man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. He will use every kind of wicked deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction because they refuse to believe the truth that would save them. So God will send great deception upon them, and they will believe all these lies. Then they will be condemned for not believing the truth and for enjoying the evil they do.

If I joined each religion that threatened eternal damnation, I'd be a member of about 1000 faiths, and subject to so many prohibitions, I'd be paralyzed with indecision.

What kind of a man would I be if I left my own faith and that of my fathers, and the faith of the Patriarchs, Moses, the Judges, the Prophets, the Kings and Jesus himself. ;) My duty to carry on tradition.

The way I see it, I will love G-d, obey his laws as best I can, love my family and my country, work hard and try to build a better world, and hope for the best. I will love and respect those who worship my G-d in their own way, for we're all brothers made in the image of G-d, and that's all I can do.

12
posted on 08/12/2005 10:13:14 AM PDT
by Alexander Rubin
(Octavius - You make my heart glad building thus, as if Rome is to be eternal.)

For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed--the one who brings destruction. He will exalt himself and defy every god there is and tear down every object of adoration and worship. He will position himself in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God. Don't you remember that I told you this when I was with you? 6And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes.

For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. This evil man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. He will use every kind of wicked deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction because they refuse to believe the truth that would save them. So God will send great deception upon them, and they will believe all these lies. Then they will be condemned for not believing the truth and for enjoying the evil they do.

*** Does promoting the murder of unborn babies and disabled people under the guise of compassion count as evil?***

One day Jesus said to his disciples, ..."It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around the neck than to face the punishment in store for harming one of these little ones." - Luke 17

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